Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians who want to send a protest vote to the government over Work Choices should vote for Family First, because it is the only party standing up for workers and small business. Work Choices will be the No. 1 election issue and, if the polls are correct, it looks set to cost the government its 11-year reign—and the government only has itself to blame.

It is understandable that many people want to punish the government for arrogantly dismissing their concerns. Those people should send their protest vote to Family First. From day one, Family First warned the government it was going too far with its radical Work Choices changes. Family First lobbied hard to restore basic working conditions which the government had taken away. Family First voted against Work Choices because it undermined family life.

Sad to say, it appears to Family First that the opposition’s approach is little different. It is extremely disappointing to read that a Rudd Labor government would also allow workers to give up conditions such as overtime, penalty rates for working public holidays, weekends and antifamily hours, along with trading meal breaks and rest breaks for more money. Public holidays and penalty rates are about family time, not about money, and they were never intended to be traded away for dollars. Sadly, neither of the major parties seems to understand this, as they both equate time with money.

Family First’s concern is family values and, as I have said, family values are about time, not money. Unlike the antibusiness Greens, Family First does not want to turn back the clock and rip up workplace laws, but Family First does want changes. Family First will seek guarantees on penalty rates, public holidays, working hours and redundancy entitlements for all workers. As we said on day one: no Australian worker should be forced to bargain for extra pay for working at 2 am or on Christmas Day.

Workplace relations—which is the way our workplaces operate, the hours we work and the way we are paid and protected—is a work and family issue. That is why Family First has played such a key role in the workplace debate, because Family First is the only party that stands for family values. Others talk about it; Family First does it. Our passion is families. Family life in Australia is under real threat today, yet it is the most precious thing we have, which is why we have to work so hard to rescue it and to rescue family life.

Sometimes, in the frantic pace of modern life, I think we can too easily forget how fragile our families are. We forget how much time and energy we need to devote to our families and to their welfare. Look at the pressures on families today. Working hours in Australia are high compared to those in other industrialised nations, and more and more Australians are working antifamily hours, often in casual jobs not of their preference. Increasingly, Australians are concerned about job security. Job security is so important because it provides peace of mind and allows families to plan for their future—perhaps to plan to buy a house, a new car, a dreamed-of holiday or even to start a family.

The combination of increasing work pressures and financial pressures due to the rising costs of petrol and groceries coupled with growing household debt creates a melting pot of bubbling tension at home that puts huge stress on relationships, marriages and families. Antifamily work hours on weekends or evenings mean we have less time to spend with our families and children, which means everyone suffers. As much as possible, weekends and evenings should be precious family time. When our jobs interfere with that, children suffer, as mum and dad are not around. The simple fact is that children need to spend time with both their parents, and Family First strongly believes that the welfare of our children must always be our top priority.

Our No. 1 consideration when focusing on important issues like the workplace debate is: how will families and children be affected? We must do everything we can to protect and guard family time jealously and with no apologies. Every parent wants to spend more time with their kids, and that is natural. I am a big believer in having lots of time with your kids, because you cannot predict when the good and the bad moments will happen. Those moments are irreplaceable. No amount of money can compensate for them. Nothing can—just ask your kids.

Our culture should be one where we celebrate leaving the office to head home to our families and where we can celebrate our children’s achievements and take pride in being parents and putting our families first. We cannot afford to tamper with something as fragile as our families. Yet, sadly, too often our focus on families is not as strong as it should be. Instead, we become preoccupied with other things such as climbing the corporate ladder, securing that promotion and making more money. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we work to live; we do not live to work. Parents in the paid workforce should be parents first and workers second. There has to be a balance between parents’ obligations to the community to bring up their children well and the community’s obligations to help give parents time to do that important job. Governments and employers share a large part of that community responsibility.

As I have said, achieving a good balance between paid work and family life is a real and constant challenge for all of us, and too often family time is sacrificed for work demands. Family First believes the issue of balancing work and family is not about getting more people into the paid workforce or increasing their working hours; it is about finding a way for parents to do the best for their kids and to make ends meet without having to sacrifice so much precious family time.

Family First voted against the Work Choices legislation. That is because it removed guaranteed conditions, including overtime, penalty rates, meal breaks and compensation for working on public holidays. Family First introduced legislation to give back those conditions, to reduce the pressure on family life and workers and their families. Family First will continue to champion the real needs of workers and their families and the real need for workers to spend precious time with their families. As a nation we should be doing everything we can to strengthen our families, to encourage family formation and to support parents, who have the most important job of all—that is, raising kids.